Welcome to the Spring 2026 edition of the Cyber Resilience Learning and Skills Bulletin!
Following the success of ‘Cyber Scotland Week’ in February, April saw Glasgow host ‘Cyber UK’ which attracted more than 3,000 experts from government, industry, and academia to celebrate the progress made over the past ten years by the National Cyber Security Centre and the UK cyber community and reflect on the theme of forging a stronger and more secure digital future during the decade to come.
‘Cyber Scotland Street’ and the ‘Cyber Scotland Pavilion’ were busy throughout the event, generating a lot of lively conversations and interest in what partners are doing. It is clear that this is an exciting time for cyber learning and skills and news about new developments, resources and upcoming event are captured below.
Schools, Colleges and Universities
‘New from ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ (DYW) – Cyber Professionals in the Classroom
Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) has launched ‘Cyber Professionals in the Classroom’ – a refreshed, fully updated resource that connects Scotland’s cyber security professionals with schools and helps employers engage in meaningful, classroom-ready ways.
Funded by the Scottish Government, the resource replaces the original Cyber Skills Resource Catalogue (2020) and reflects the rapid growth of cyber programmes and teaching tools. It provides clear routes for employers of all size, including SMEs and individual volunteer, to support teachers, raise awareness of cyber careers, and strengthen Scotland’s future talent pipeline.
Visit https://www.dyw.scot/digital-technologies.html to explore ‘Cyber Professionals in the Classroom’ and register your interest in supporting a local school, whether you’re an employer, SME, or an individual cyber professional.
Sharing the success of ‘Cyber resilience and You!’ with the rest of the cyber community at CyberUK 2026
Cyber resilience training funded by the Scottish Government and designed to help students in colleges and universities, ‘Cyber Resilience and You!’, was on display at this year’s ‘CyberUK’ event in Glasgow.
During a ‘lightning talk’, ‘CyberScotland Partnership’ engagement officer, Michael Kleinman, shared the success story of how the project has helped thousands of students across Scotland understand cyber threats. He also outlined what makes our training so effective and the aim of improving the course in the future based on feedback received from students.
The future of accessible and jargon-free student cyber training is looking bright with ‘Cyber Resilience and You’! If you want to find out more, why not have a go?
YouthLink Scotland – ‘Building Ethical Partnersips with the Tech Sector’
Youthlink Scotland has launched a new set of tools, designed to support youth work organisations to make ethical alliances with technology companies.
The launch event focused on the ‘Getting Started Guide’ and the ‘Unique Value Blueprint’, exploring questions that helped the youth work organisations to consider the value of their offer to a technology company.
Whether you are receiving sponsorship, teaming up to deliver digital skills training, taking advantage of some new kit or software, or writing an agreement for a suite of longer-term partnering activities, these guidelines are here to support you to both create and sustain ethical partnerships with technology companies.
Business and other organisations
Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland
The Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland are holding the following events during June and July:
• 10 June – Cyber Executive Education Day Edinburgh – Cyber Executive Education: Edinburgh Sponsored By Network ROI – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
• 11 June – Cyber Executive Education Day Glasgow – Cyber Executive Education: Glasgow Sponsored By Aspire – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
• 18 June – Cyber Executive Education Day Aberdeen – Cyber Executive Education: Aberdeen – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
• 23 June – Cyber Byte: Building an Incident Response Plan – Cyber Byte: Building an Incident Response Plan – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
• 22 July – Intro to Cyber Security – Introduction to Cyber Security: Third Sector and SMEs – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
• 28 July – Cyber Byte: Threat Intel – Cyber Byte: Threat Intel – Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland
Digital Learning Initiative
The Digital Learning Initiative brings together leading technology learning platform providers – including AWS, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Salesforce – in partnership with Skills Development Scotland. This collaborative approach offers free online learning to adults in Scotland, designed to help people upskill and reskill in digital technologies, including Cyber Security, and boost productivity in the workplace.
What’s on offer?
Over 5,000 free, accessible courses in:
Cyber Security
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Software Development
Data Science
For individuals:
• The Digital Learning Initiative empowers individuals to develop their digital skills, helping to upskill and reskill in digital technologies.
• It provides access to free, accessible learning from a number of large tech learning provider companies.
For employers:
• The Digital Learning Initiative helps employers to manage the skills needs within their business, helping to upskill and reskill staff in digital technologies.
• It provides a one-stop portal to find free and accessible learning from existing learning platforms.
• Upskilling employees within digital technology assists in the productivity and growth of the company using digital skills.
Digital Skills Education – ‘How we helped professional footballers protect their WhatsApp group chats’
Scottish Digital Skills Education recently ran a cyber security course with professional footballers – probably not the first audience people think of when they hear ‘cyber security’ – and worked with Scottish Union Learning and PFA Scotland, the independent trade union for professional footballers in Scotland, to help members keep their WhatsApp chats safe from scammers and snoopers.
If you want to find out more about Digital Skills Education’s WhatsApp and cyber safety training click here.
SIM Swapping – new resource for Lead Scotland
SIM Swapping is a type of fraud perpetrated by criminals. In response, Lead Scotland has developed a new resource with guidance from Police Scotland – ‘Staying safe from SIM Swapping’. This short course explains what SIM Swapping is and how to defend yourself.
The course is available for free on our online learning platform, My.Lead: my.lead.org.uk/courses/staying-safe-from-sim-swapping
Also see our accompanying blog on our website here: www.lead.org.uk/2026/05/14/sim-swapping-why-and-how-to-keep-your-phone-number-safe/
Stay safe out there online, protecting your finances and accounts from cyber criminals.
To report an e-mail phishing attempt, forward your e-mail to the National Cyber Security Centre: report@phishing.gov.uk
If you are a victim of cyber crime, please report it to Police Scotland by calling 101.